Part of the Family
by A Chocolate Frog
Summary: It's another Weasley family Christmas, but little Teddy Lupin is convinced he's not really part of the family. Can his godfather set him straight? Short and sweet oneshot.


_Wow. I haven't posted any new stories in a year! That makes me kind of sad. I can assure you, though, that I have been working on a story of epic proportions and hope to have that up someday soon-ish. Anyways, here's my new (and apparently annual) Jingle Spells-inspired story. I've been intending to write about Teddy and Harry for a while, and The Remus Lupins' song "Literary Echo" from _Jingle Spells 4 _really helped me solidify my ideas and get started._

_Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is a genius and created nearly everyone and everything in this story. If you recognize it, it's hers._

_**~Part of the Family~**_

"Teddy! Teddy, where are you?" Harry called.

It was Christmas Day and everyone was dying to start in on the enormous turkey that had been cooking for hours, but Molly was refusing to let anyone eat until they had taken the annual family photo ("So the babies and Charlie don't have gravy all down their fronts," she insisted), and seven-year-old Teddy was nowhere to be found.

Harry had searched nearly every room in the Burrow and was beginning to worry. He poked his head into the laundry room at the back of the house, and there, tucked easily under the handle of the mangle, was the silhouette of a small boy.

"Teddy! There you are!" Harry exclaimed, switching on the lights with a wave of his wand. "Why are you hiding in here? We've got to take the Weasley Christmas photo –"

He stopped as his godson, a redhead today, looked up, displaying tear tracks trailing down his cheeks.

"What's wrong, little man?"

Teddy scowled. "I don't want to be in the Weasley Christmas photo."

"Why not?"

The little boy's lip trembled, and fresh tears pooled in his eyes. "Because I'm not a Weasley," he mumbled.

Harry smiled kindly and sat down, squeezing between Teddy and the wall. "Aunt Ginny and James and I aren't Weasleys either. Our last name's Potter," he pointed out. "But we're still part of the family."

"Yes, but Aunt Ginny used to be a Weasley till she married you," Teddy said stubbornly. "I'm different."

Harry sighed. "May I ask what put this idea into your head?"

"Victoire said so," Teddy sniffled. "She asked Auntie Fleur and Auntie Fleur said I'm not related to Granny and Grandad, so I'm not part of the family."

So that was what the row had been about that morning, Harry realized. Teddy and Victoire, the closest in age of the children who were old enough to talk, picked on each other constantly.

"I don't think Auntie Fleur meant what you think she meant. Victoire just likes to wind you up. Family is more than a name," Harry explained.

"I don't care! I don't want my name to be Lupin. I want to be Teddy Weasley or Teddy Potter!" he exclaimed.

"Hey now!" Harry chided. "How would your mum and dad feel about that?"

"They – they –" he couldn't get any more words out before dissolving into tears.

Harry wrapped an arm around his godson's shoulders and pulled him close. "I know," he murmured. "I know."

"It's – not – fair," Teddy sobbed. "Why did my mum and dad have to die?"

"I don't know," Harry sighed. "I don't know why they had to die, but I know they loved you _very much_. I never saw your dad happier than when he told me you'd been born. Did you know you look just like him when you smile?"

Teddy looked up, a faint light in his eyes. "I do?"

"Yep. And your mum could change the way she looked, just like you. She liked to make her hair outrageous colors, like pink."

Teddy smiled a little. "I like to make my hair bright blue."

Harry smiled back. "I think your mum would like that too. And you know what, little man? You act more and more like your parents every day. You're brave and you're a very good friend. I know they would be so proud of you."

"I wish I could remember them," Teddy said sadly.

"I know. I can't really remember my parents either," Harry said. "It's even harder to think about them on Christmas, but I know I have _so many_ people that love me. Think how many people love you, Teddy. You've got your Nana Tonks, and Granny and Grandad Weasley, and Aunt Ginny and me, and all the other aunts and uncles and cousins."

"Not Victoire."

Harry chuckled. "Yes, even Victoire, though she may not show it. And deep down, you love her too."

"Maybe," Teddy said with a shrug.

Harry shook his head and grinned. "Okay. The point is, Teddy, your real family doesn't have anything to do with your last name or what you look like. It's about who you love. When your parents were alive, I counted them as part of my family, and now I include you and your nana. Don't you ever think that you're not part of the family here at the Burrow, okay?"

Teddy smiled. "Okay."

"Good. Now how about we go take this picture before someone hexes Granny over the turkey?"

In years to come, as Harry looked back through decades of Weasley family Christmas photos, 2005's was always his favorite. Sure, Percy was sneezing, Bill and George were elbowing each other, and baby James was screaming in his mother's arms. But in the midst of the chaos, Teddy Lupin sat grinning from atop his godfather's shoulders, his electric blue hair standing out like a beacon in a sea of redheads.

It was the perfect picture of a family.

**-.-.-.-.-**

_Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review. I hope you and yours have had a very merry Christmas if you've been celebrating today, and I hope you've had a relaxing Saturday if you haven't been celebrating. Best wishes to all in the New Year!_

_-A Chocolate Frog_


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